On cheating in sports

CHEATING MAY be the most dangerous cancer plaguing sports all over the world.

Cheating in sports must certainly be as old as Time itself. In THE GUINNESS BOOK OF OLYMPICS : FACTS AND FEATS (1984 Edition, page 9), Stan Greenberg writes, “The importance of winning at Olympia, and the reflected glory it bestowed on the winner's birthplace, led to cities hiring professionals and bribing judges.”

In their book, also on the ancient Olympic Games, entitled THE OLYMPIC GAMES: THE FIRST THOUSAND YEARS, Professor M. I. Finlay and Dr. H. W. Pleket give examples of the rewards that were bestowed on successful athletes and their city-states.

According to the writers, “Olympic winners were well rewarded by their native cities.”

Statues of winners were erected out of public funds at home, in Olympia, Delhi (the location of the Oracle of Apollo), and elsewhere.

Honorary citizenship was offered to outstanding athletes from other cities. Material rewards included pensions, subsidies, and even, on some occasions, payment of the fines incurred in breach of the rules at the Games.

The authors note that in Athens, bonuses for Athenian athletes reportedly ranged from 500 drachmas for the Olympic Games and 100 drachmas for the Isthmian Games.

They write, “All athletes expected and accepted material rewards (cash and goods) for victory, regardless of class or personal celebrations that often included processions.

Apart from the cash, goods and other honours bestowed on the victorious athletes, some of them commissioned poets to write poems to sing their praises.

It is said that no Greek wished to be publicly ridiculed for not triumphing at the Games, so the unsuccessful ones returned home keeping away from public eyes.

The expectation of fame and fortune, and the avoidance of public ridicule, must have provided the spur for these ancient athletes to use all means.

Obviously, the adulation, which was showered on the victorious athletes in the ancient Games, is still here with us today.

The world loves a winner. If the Black Satellites had lost all their preliminary matches, and had been sent packing home, hardly anyone would have been at the airport to welcome them. Indeed, insults and fault-finding would have been their lot.

Of course, they did not lose their preliminary matches. As a matter of fact, they went on from the group stages, and brought the laurels consisting of the Best Player, Top Scorer and the Ultimate “Crown”, the Cup.

As far as the rest of African was concerned, it was not a victory for the Black Satellites or Ghana alone, but the whole of Africa.

When it mattered most, it was Ghana that carried the Flag of Africa to the “war front”. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is said to have broadcast to the Egyptian people, urging them to support the Satellites as if it was an Egyptian team.

The Egyptian pilot, who brought the Satellites to Accra, should be forgiven for being so carried away by the vicarious pleasure he shared in the victory, that he unceremoniously carried the Cup out of the plane to show it to us. He carried both the Ghana flag and that of Egypt.

A relation in the United States told me that two Nigeria friends walked up to him and said, “We have won.” President Laurent Gbagbo of La Cote d'Ivoire also wants to honour the Satellites. Truly Ghana and Africa have triumphed.

If you asked me, I say the Government of Ghana has done well in recognising the efforts of the Black Satellites, their coach, and all the other handlers who contributed in one way or the other to ensure that the honour came to Ghana and Africa.

If only sports could be as beautiful as this. If only sports was not blighted by cheating across the world.

Look at these people: Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Andre Agassi, and Diego Maradona. They represent just a tiny fraction of the large number of sportsmen and women, exposed and hidden, who had achieved fame and fortune in the world of sports by cheating.

There is no doubt about the skills of Maradona. But the English will never forgive him for cheating, by scoring a goal against them with his hand. To make matters worse, he was later to say that what “scored” the 'goal' was the Hand of God.

At the Seoul Olympics, the Canadian athlete, Ben Johnson, was caught using performance-enhanced drugs. His gold medal was taken away from him. Nine other athletes were also disqualified. I always liked Marion Jones, the American athlete, for her running ability, and avoidance of bikini-style sports wear. I was truly sad and angry when she confessed that all those years, she also had used drugs to better her performance.

The American tennis sensation, Andre Agassi, has also confessed to using drugs to help him rebuild his career as a tennis player.

He says so in his autobiography, “Open”. All the prize monies he earned should be taken away from him. Marion Jones went to jail. Why should she not. Juventus, the Italian Serie 'A' team, bribed its way to victory, only to be found out and demoted. Anyway, it is back in Serie 'A'.

In age-related games, especially soccer, some countries have either come under suspicion for fielding over-aged players, or have actually been caught. Footballers have indulged in 'diving' or simulation in the penalty area in order to deceive the referee into awarding penalties. Boxers have dug their thumbs into the eyes of their opponents, or cleverly used their elbows to open cuts on the faces of opponents.

Do you remember the scandal of teams in this country allowing themselves to be beaten by as many as 20 or more goals? What about the international scene, when two teams arrange to play it soft, so that both can qualify for the next level by eliminating another team?

Will cheating in sports disappear? I doubt it. The victorious athlete mounts the rostrum marked No. 1. His country's flags is hauled up, while his country's national anthem is played.

The captain of the team collects the giant trophy and hoists it aloft for the whole world to see, thanks to television and the internet.

Think of the individual and national euphoria, the celebrations, the procession through the capital city, the reception by the nation's President.

Cheating in sports will always be with us. We can only try to minimise it.